Jennifer Garner Zings Mark Ruffalo For Trying To Quit '13 Going On 30' In Sweet Speech

Fans clamoring for a 13 Going on 30 sequel got a pre-Valentines Day treat this week with a sweet reunion of the films stars, Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo . 

Garner made a surprise appearance Thursday to honor Ruffalo as he received his Hollywood Walk of Fame star in Los Angeles and, after a touching speech , left her former on-screen love interest looking misty-eyed. 

The Alias actor began her remarks by noting she was a last-minute replacement for Ruffalos We Dont Live Here Anymore co-star Laura Dern , who had recently tested positive for COVID-19. 

Being asked to fill in for Dern, however, left Garner puzzled. 

Why wasnt I asked to do this in the first place? I kicked off the Mark Ruffalo rom-com era, she joked. 

The success of 13 Going on 30 led to Ruffalos roles in a string of romantic comedies, including Just Like Heaven and Rumor Has It. Still, Garner questioned whether Ruffalos co-stars in those films including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon enjoyed Marks anxiety as much as I did. 

I wonder if he tried to drop out of their films like he did out of ours after the first rehearsal of the Thriller dance, she quipped, where Mark went from kind of shocked that we actually had to do this to antsy to a deathly quit to Bro, this is not for me.

All joking aside, Garner went on to praise Ruffalos acting chops, specifically his performance in Poor Things , for which he snagged an Oscar nomination . 

You allow yourself to be fully known by your colleagues, by the audience, by the world, she said. Your work on Poor Things deserves all of the awards, all of them. But the real success is in how thrilled and delighted your colleagues are to have the opportunity to lift you up and celebrate you. Every time your name is called, Hollywood takes a deep collective breath and says: OK, the good and right thing has happened.

After Ruffalos star was unveiled, he and Garner playfully recreated a few of their signature Thriller moves for photographers and onlookers. 

Ruffalo previously recalled his initial misgivings about 13 Going on 30 in 2022, when he and Garner teamed up again for Netflix s The Adam Project .

[Garner] had to drag me onto the dance floor. It took me six hours what she learned in about six minutes, he said in an appearance on the ReelBlend podcast . She was so good at dancing, and I was so bad at it. I almost quit the movie because of it! 

Fortunately, Garner and director Gary Winick were able to convince Ruffalo to stay. Released in 2004, 13 Going on 30 was a critical and commercial hit, raking in a reported $96 million at the box office worldwide. 

Watch Jennifer Garners speech honoring Mark Ruffalo below. Her remarks begin around the 27:22 mark.